secanvssubanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“secan” and “suban” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#39,455
“secan” frequency rank
#12,061
“suban” frequency rank
51516
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature secan suban
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de secar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de subir o de subirse.

Where the eye mixes secan and suban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. secan and suban follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
secan
5 ch
suban

Look-alike desk: secan vs suban

A purely visual mix-up. secan ([ˈsekãn]) and suban ([ˈsuβ̞ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

secan is recorded at frequency rank #39,455, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsekãn]. suban is at rank #12,061, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈsuβ̞ãn].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 51516, this pair ranks #97,485 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of secan vs suban

Shared letters: ans. Private to "secan": ce. Private to "suban": bu.

"secan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "suban" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • secan ← cecan · escan · scean · seacn · secann · seccan · secna · ssecan
  • suban ← sbuan · ssuban · suabn · subann · subban · subna · suvan · usban

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "secan" and "suban" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsekãn] versus [ˈsuβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "secan" vs "suban" - which ranks higher?
"suban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,061 in our Spanish list, against #39,455 for "secan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "secan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "suban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #97,485 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "secan" and "suban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "secan vs seta". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #97,485 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list